in the dust of this world
by antarcticas
Summary: darkness is not the opposite of light. it is the absence. —dark!percy, dark!annabeth


they always come to him for help. to do their dirty work. he acts like he doesn't mind. they think he doesn't mind. he fools them all. they are too used to having everything their way. they have fooled themselves into thinking they are invincible. he laughs at them. no one, no god, is truly immortal.

so he tricks them into thinking they are safe while he spends every spare moment of his plotting the downfall of people (are they even people? more like monsters) who think he is a tool. they don't care and they will never care so why should he? he is powerful and strong and a leader and he will not waste those things on people who don't care, who will never care.

he's a mistake, and he knows that, and he hates that. he hates the condescending looks from the queen and the glares from the king. he hates how they act as if they are always right when they never are. he has been gaining power, is almost as powerful as them, so he doesn't let his and annabeth's constant scheming go to waste. instead he clenches his fists and pretends not to notice.

they're all scared, the minor gods, the demigods, the mortals, even his own parents shy away from him sometimes. he breaks things often. it helps release the power he has inside him. better break then kill, he thinks. for now. soon he will kill and not care.

she isn't afraid. she's the only one who isn't afraid. she's rational, she's logical, she always knows what to say. he loves her. she loves him. they've gone through hell so the stupid gods can stop acting so self-righteous because they've never suffered that much. they've never looked a being who is worse than death in the eye.

his father and mother are frightened, he knows. paul, too. they have good reason too, but they don't know exactly why yet. his mother just knows the sadistic screams of pleasure coming from his room in the middle of the night. his father knows the fact that he is smiling less than frowning is bad. they're oblivious. if only they cared enough they would recognize everything else. they would be able to tell.

he used to think he was alone. he wasn't. many felt like tools, many were being used. so he recruits them. but they're still afraid, so he doesn't consider them friends, just minions. he is in charge. he will lead. he will devastate.

* * *

and then the time comes and he is in charge and he leads, he takes over.

son, his father says, what is this?

i'm starting a new age, he replies while watching ares fade away. good riddance. you are all foolish. you don't care.

the old man has no chance to say anything else as riptide cuts through his stomach and he fades into seafoam. he smiles at a new surge of power. he is a god now. he smirks and dissolves piles of foam. no-one will take his powers away. he will be unstoppable

all around him the demigods slash and kill, bringing down god by god. he watches annabeth take down her mother, grinning as she does. he smiles lovingly. oh, he loves her, his brainy wise girl, now goddess. the other demigods are ruthless in their fighting. the gods fight to injure, to disable, not to kill. they will not kill their children. their offspring are not that honorable. all around him, the gods crumble. he watches as dionysus becomes grapes, as hephaestus dissolves into scraps of metal, as artemis falls in a show of silver sparks.

he looks and notices two gods are still alive. hades and hestia stand among the wreckage of olympus. he smiles at hades. the god of death nods swiftly in return. he does not care about the fall of his siblings. the underworld will not be affected.

are you sure? he asks.

yes, the god replies. some things are not worth fighting for.

hades turns around. he watches as the god dissolves into light, marveling at the way he can see the energy without dissolving. the world is his. he loves it.

he turns to the other goddess. hestia, he says.

yes, she responds, plainly. what will you do to me.

nothing, he smiles. home will be where it always is.

she looks at him for a minute.

you will be a good ruler, she tells him. then she returns to her fire.

he looks at her intently and turns into light. power is love and love is power. he and annabeth smile at each other when they repurpose.

mortals will fear. demigods will be loyal. they will rule.

* * *

it's years later and he looks on proudly at this world, this finally fair world. his queen is next to him. the world is theirs. it will always be theirs. through wind and hail and snow. they will watch and although they might not always be there, they will pull the strings behind every power the world will see forevermore.

he is order and chaos. he has created a perfect, powerful world, and there is no-one to take it away from him. he makes the rules and he changes the rules and nobody dare disobeys him.

if he's gone a little unstable as he rules, well, no one can blame him. he kills for a sport, but it is an honor to die by his hand. he is a legend and a human, a story that is written in the stars and that will never be released. he cannot fade. he cannot die. he is the true meaning of immortality, timeless and powerful. he isn't who he used to be.

neither is she. she plans everything that he does. she is the nimue behind arthur, the voice whispering in his ear. they might be equal in power but she devises all the strategies, not that they would ever use anything against each other. they are different and unique but also one and the same and they will be here until time breathes its last breath.

they're on their way to conquer everything. nothing will stand in their path.

so he smiles and laughs and fights because it is all he has left. he is not who he was. percy jackson has found a new light, one which is the brightest among pools of darkness.

* * *

 **improper grammer because i think that makes writing more powerful. once again, edited fic from my old account.**

 **-dee**


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